Hello everyone!

My name is Mario, I´m a lawyer, but above all I´m a lover of traveling and discovering new cultures, customs and places, please come to me with good music to discover. My girlfriend, Maria, is an environmental engineer, a lover of nature, animals, and delicious food. And with us lives our cat, Pria, she is a calm being (although a little crazy) who likes to be given her space to sleep -the only thing we ask of you regarding her is love and care in not letting her leave the house.

We´re very kind, respectful and open-minded people. We have full-time jobs, but with flexible hours, so sometimes we can find ourselves working from home all day, and other times we will be away.

If you come to our home you can find a double bed, we will provide you with clean blankets and towels. Due to our commitment to caring for the environment, we appreciate that you avoid bringing single-use plastic, separate waste and help us keep our house clean (sometimes it´s difficult to us to clean it daily, so the less clutter, the better).

Maria is preferably vegetarian, but sometimes she eats eggs. I love sea food.

Bucaramanga is known for fast food places, tartar sauce and pineapple sauce, we can show you the best restaurants. Also nearby places for hiking, or how to get to some tourist sites such as Cerro del Santísimo or Cañon del Chicamocha.

Find me on IG as: @mariobarraganpachon
Find Maria on IG as: @mariaaruizreyes

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We´re interested in building a gigantic community of people and interests with whom to share our experiences and resources in order to travel around the world.

Interests

• running
• hiking
• jogging

Music, Movies, and Books

I was checking my library and my LPs are mainly from Soda Stereo and Gustavo Cerati, I also like Belle and Sebastian, Bon Iver, the National. Maria's favorite group is Led Zeppelin, but she also loves listening to music by Taylor Swift, Alicia Keys and Bruno Mars.

My favorite movie is Shawshank Redemption, I love the part where Andy Dufresne walks into the Warden's office and plays a recording of “Le Nozze di Figaro,” specifically the Duettino “Sull'aria” across the main speakers to the entire prison. On the other hand Maria prefers to watch action movies or cartoons, her favorite movies are Finding Nemo and Finding Dory - Maria looks a lot like Dory.

My favorite books are The Picture of Dorian Gray and the Millennium Saga. Maria prefers more of a family drama, and her favorite books are the Dollanganger Saga.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I can say that the most amazing thing I have done recently was to reach the edge of the snow in El Cocuy National Natural Park along the Laguna Grande route at about 4800 meters above sea level.

Maria is a certified open water diver, for her the most wonderful thing she has done recently was swimming with whale sharks and rays in Cancun.

Teach, Learn, Share

I´m here for anything that can help, but mainly if you need the car, I can share it so that you can get to know the city, as well as our library and knowledge about wines. I can teach you a lot of Spanish and especially a lot of music. Right now - at a very slow pace - we are learning Italian with Maria.

Maria is currently doing a yoga course for adults and one for children, she can share some knowledge about it with you, and she is also willing to learn more about it. Her work is based on teaching people to compost, she can also teach you about that- here at home we have a compost bin. Maria is a dance lover, so she can also teach you the basic steps of most of the rhythms that we have here in Colombia such as salsa, merengue, vallenato, etc. Together with Mario, we´re learning Italian, so we´re open to learning new words and phrases.

We usually cook at home, so you´re welcome to prepare some food while we´re in the kitchen. Maria loves learning about new dishes, so she will be delighted to learn about cooking and ingredients.

What I Can Share with Hosts

We can offer you good conversations, some food prepared at home and teach you Spanish.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cuba, Curaçao, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Colombia